Thy Vo - Health Journalism Fellow

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Thy is a staff writer at Voice of OC, a nonprofit investigative news agency in Santa Ana, California. In addition to reporting on municipal politics and government, Thy writes about community health and quality of life issues affecting OC's underserved immigrant communities.

Thy Vo's Work

In Asian American families, where the subject of sex is particularly taboo and parents may lack sex education themselves, discussions about sex are less likely to happen. Reporter Thy Vo set out to document the consequences for young Asian Americans.

"It's a common experience among many Asian American families — skillfully avoiding the topic of sex until absolutely necessary, which is often too late," reporter Thy Vo writes in part two of her series on discussions of sexuality in Asian American families.

In the years after coming out to his family as a teen, Lotus Dao felt alienated from them. Lacking support, he began abusing cocaine and alcohol, and struggled with an eating disorder. His story is not uncommon in a community that does not openly discuss sex and gender, Thy Vo reports.